Information Technology (IT) companies (or departments) that manage their customers' (or organizations') computer systems are constantly challenged with the need to provide timely, secure, and cost-effective support. Remote support provides the means for IT professionals to remotely access and control customers' (or organizations') computer systems. This eliminates the need for these professionals to physically travel on-site to address a problem, thereby minimizing delay in response time.
Traditional remote support approaches possess a number of drawbacks. For example, an Application Service Provider (ASP) hosted approach (also known as Software as a Service, SaaS) requires customers to route all centrally stored or logged data communication through a 3rd party data center, thereby potentially introducing security risks. Also, a server software installation deployment model poses complicated, costly integration issues, particularly when implemented into a large IT infrastructure (e.g., corporate network).
Based on the foregoing, there is a clear need for a mechanism that can support secure remote access and control and enable ease of deployment, while minimizing security risks and cost.